Help! Using Titles

[Robinne Weiss]

In my current WIP, my main characters call other characters using their titles--Mr., Mrs., Miss. I can't decide whether it's better to use 'Mr.' and 'Mrs." or 'Mister' and 'Missus'. I would have said the latter, because in general I avoid abbreviations in a novel, but seeing them typed out looks dumb--Mr. and Mrs. disappear, but Mister and Missus stand out. Any thoughts?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I'd use abbreviations and use the titles the other way if used in speech. 'Can I have this, mister?' the boy said.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yes, 'mister' looks fine in that use, but what about something like, "Sorry about that, Mister and Missus Chalmers," said the boy. To me it looks odd, and slows down the sentence...

Maybe I need to raid my kids' bookshelves and do some research on other MG/YA books...

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Yes, for that I'd use, 'sorry, Mr and Mrs etc'

 

[Katie-Ellen]

There's something rather Dickens, or else 50's American about the written address, mister and missus.

 

[Peggy Lou]

I feel much would depend on the time and the place of your story. And the characters of your characters. If your child character is ultra modern, the kind of kid who carries a tablet and knows more about technology than me, mister might sound very out of place.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yeah, my feeling is that Mister and Missus are dated, and I should be using Mr. and Mrs., even in dialogue.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Your story is set in a very different world to any of my stories. I don't think I've ever written someone's title prefixing their name; these are also called honorifics.

I do have a similar problem with my police procedural/psychological thrillers, of how to write ranks and different sections of the police force. I usually write them in full when first introducing a character, then revert to the abbreviated form. Thus, it's Detective Chief Inspector, followed thereafter by DCI.

Going back to how one is addressed in polite society, I used to get a kick out of receiving birthday cards, while growing up, with Master Whybrow on the envelope. I don't know if this was more of an English practice, but it made me feel posher and mightier than normal.

My friend Brian didn't like it so much, but then his surname was Bates....

 

[David Newrick]

In my current WIP, my main characters call other characters using their titles--Mr., Mrs., Miss. I can't decide whether it's better to use 'Mr.' and 'Mrs." or 'Mister' and 'Missus'. I would have said the latter, because in general I avoid abbreviations in a novel, but seeing them typed out looks dumb--Mr. and Mrs. disappear, but Mister and Missus stand out. Any thoughts?

What styles of address are being used by other writers in your genre/style Robinne?

 

[Patricia D]

Hard to say without knowing more about the time and place, but generally I'd go with the abbreviations--they do disappear-- except in dialog and then it would depend upon who is speaking. The banker would say Mr. and the mechanic would say Mister. That said, David Newrick's advice strikes me as right on target.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yes, that's today's task--to raid the kids' bookshelves and see what others are doing.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

For the record, from a quick perusal of what's on my kids' shelves:
Bloomsbury seems to prefer Mr and Mrs in dialogue
Random House and Penguin use Mr. and Mrs.

I didn't look any further--that told me what I needed to know (and what I wanted to hear )

 

[David Newrick]

For the record, from a quick perusal of what's on my kids' shelves:
Bloomsbury seems to prefer Mr and Mrs in dialogue
Random House and Penguin use Mr. and Mrs.

I didn't look any further--that told me what I needed to know (and what I wanted to hear )

Great news! Glad you got it sorted.